Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

[jedimaster]

Ok so I have decided to plunge in. Head first without checking the depth first. I am sure I will hit a rock but oh well. Thats what insurance is for. This will be a diary with questions asked of ou fine folks. I didn't get very far.

I took the lower unit off and rechecked the water impellor everything seems fine. This leads me to believe it is the water hose that is the culprate.

Sooo. here we go.

Removed the rams, left the hydraullic line intact and just removed the two bolts on the back side and loosened off the transom side ones as far as possible, then removed the back sides and let the hang on the front through bolt.

Removed the six bolts that hold the drive to the bellhousing.
Tried a bit of tugging and a bit of prying careful not to wreck anything and then I just tilted up the drive about 3 inches and dropped it.

The unit popped free hopefully didn't break anything. As I pulled the drive off alot of water came out.

Set aside the drive.

As I look into the Ujoint bellows I see water, but no oil.
So I guess the oil seal is ok but the Bellows is shot. This would be my slow leak into the boat.
I also checked the gimbal bearing and it is definatly gone. very loose and noisy.

Ok, now I removed the trim sendors, and got stuck as I don't have the fancy hing pin removal tool. Oh well thats it for tonite will have to hit the marina tomorow.
Maybe if I call around one will lend me the tools if I buy the transom kit from them.

Thats about all for now, I will keep this updated as I go.

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

The u joints seem to be in good shape no rust or looseness. Should I be checking anything else at this stage?

 

[Don S]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

That seal around the bellows gets replaced EVERY time the drive is removed. Just like the gasket and the water passage oring. They are in a kit that sells for about 7 bucks to keep a couple of thousand dollars worth of parts safe.

As far as the hinge pin tool, a 1/2" allen wrench with the end cut off and a 1/2 socket and breaker bar will remove the hinge pins.

The gimbal bearing and ujoints should be replaced. They have water in them. Water causes rust. Rust causes pits and loose hard gritty things that bearings don't like.
Like the old TV commercial. Pay me now or pay me later. They are on their way out.

Here is a link to the Mercruiser service manual that covers all your repairs (In detail) it's free so have a look.

http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Servmanl/6/6covr3.pdf

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

Ahh thanks for the tip on the allen wrench, Do I need the bellows expander tool or have you got any tips on that one?
Does the seal come with the transom kit? I would have thought it came with everything.

 

[Don S]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

What's a transom kit? The transom is the back of the boat, made of fiberglass and plywood.? ? ? ? ?

The kit I was refereing to, is the outdrive installation kit. (For putting the drive back on the pivot housing, sometimes known as the bellhousing)

This kit
Install Kit

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

Bellows, and gmbal bearing etc.. I bought the kit today along with the bellow glue, Got half way home and it started raining like a son of a .......Guess it'll have to wait til tomorow.

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

Ok, I noticed one of the trim senders has a broken wire, what does it do? I think it is a kill switch for the trim?
Having trouble finding a 1/2" allen key, might have to just go buy the special tool.

 

[tommays]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

The port sender runs the trim guage and the starboard is your trim limit before you need to use the trailer button


You have gotten into a pretty hard project

I would save the online manual and print up the pages covering this repiar and spend the time nessary reading it to get a better idea about how everthing works toghter

There are a lot of small things to look out for like putting a hose clamp in the wrong way which will poke a hole in your brand new repiar job

With the water in the drive bellows you had to have gotten rust dammage on the input yoke on the outdrive if you dont fix this its going to bite you

Tommays

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

bought a new yoke, also stopped in at home depot and bought a 1/2" D ring bolt to take off the bolts came off like a charm. not bad for a 1 dollar tool.I have the manual and read it through several times. Should be ok.

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

ha ha, ok so I screwed up.
I got the hose on(bit of a pita, but some soap on the transom side did wonders)
I got the Ujoint bellow on, no real problems although I am sure glad I had a 1/4 inch ratchet, extension and gimbal for it

Got the exhaust bellows on after about 15 minutes of strugling(probably the most difficult part.

got the gimbal bearing in and aligne dup properly to the greas fitting.

Got the bellhousing bolted back together(again the 1 dollar d ring bolt did wonders)

Gonna have to play around with the trim senders as I am not sure how they work so I am pretty sure they are gonna be way out of wack

Now comes the part I think I screwed up on.

when I removed the drive, I had the lower and upper seperated as I was checking the water pump then expanded the process to replace everything.

Now I can't seem to get the 3 back together.
Any tips on getting the two units back together when all three are apart?

 

[Don S]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

when I removed the drive, I had the lower and upper seperated as I was checking the water pump then expanded the process to replace everything.

Now I can't seem to get the 3 back together.
Any tips on getting the two units back together when all three are apart?

Put the upper and lower together, then put the complete drive back on the boat AFTER checking the engine alignment.
The link I posted for the manual has all the detailes for putting them back together and installing the drive.

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

Ok got it back together, checked the alignment and it was bang on. About the only good news on this project.
Just gotta fillher up with oil and let the bellows glue harden, then gonna change the thermostat and put new engine side cooling hoses back on and bob's your uncle.

Anyone know if I cn get a normal car engnie thermostat, and if so what car model, year and temperature should I ask for, or is it a special one for marine application. I was a little dissapointed when I went to the marina and bought an oil filter and they just gave me a fram car engine oil filter and it cost about double what it did at walmart.

 

[Don S]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

You DO NOT have to let the bellows adhesive harden. IF you put the clamp on it, then your good to go.
If your engine is raw water cooled, stick with a marine thermostat with a 140° opening temp.
As far as oil filters, pick the brand you like best. Change it yearly or 100 hrs (whichever comes first) along with the oil and anything will work.

 

[jedimaster]

Re: Gimbal, Bellows and Water hose replacement '88 Alpha One

Thanks very much for all your insight. I love the internet for things like this. Makes the DIY adventures much less discouraging.